The senior forward won’t be available for the Blue Devils on Saturday against N.C. State in a showdown of the ACC’s top two teams. Kelly, the league’s Player of the Week last week, has been termed as “out indefinitely” after aggravating a previous injury to his right foot during the first half of Tuesday’s 68-40 win against Clemson.

He was Duke’s leading scorer with 12 points before sitting out the entire second half.

“We feel very badly for Ryan,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. “He is playing the best basketball of his career and this is a tough setback for him. We’re hoping for a good recovery and we are optimistic about his return.”

Kelly originally injured the foot at the end of last season, forcing him to miss both the ACC and NCAA tournaments. He tweaked the same foot during the Christmas break this season, but had been playing through the pain until Tuesday.

X-rays taken after the game were inconclusive. Kelly had a CT scan done on Wednesday. Although the results were not announced, they were enough to keep the Blue Devils’ co-captain out of action.

Krzyzewski said he wasn’t certain how or when Kelly hurt himself against the Tigers or how long he will be sidelined. The use of the term “out indefinitely,” however, has an ominous tone to it. It’s the same description Duke used for Kyrie Irving’s status when the star freshman injured his toe two seasons ago. Irving ended up missing the entire ACC schedule and only returned for three games in the NCAA tournament.

Kelly’s absence will be a major blow for the top-ranked Blue Devils, especially if it turns out to be long-term. At 6-foot-10 with the shooting range of a guard, he provides a matchup nightmare for most opponents.

His injury would also leave Duke short on experience in the frontcourt outside of senior center Mason Plumlee. Kelly is averaging a career-high 13.5 points per game and ranks second on the team in rebounding at 5.4 per game. He is also shooting 52 percent (25 of 48) from 3-point range.

Seldom-used forwards Josh Hairston, Amile Jefferson and Alex Murphy will also be called upon to fill the void left by Kelly’s absence – however long that ends up being. Each played more minutes than usual in the second half against Clemson. The trio combined for eight points and five rebounds, but they’ll be tested much more severely Saturday on the road against the 20th-ranked Wolfpack.

“The neat thing is that our guys are practicing well and had really good minutes (Tuesday),” Krzyzewski said after the game. “They will have opportunity. The experience they got (Tuesday) will be helpful.”